The Temple of Terror
by kelsoei
Summary: The Gaang explore a haunted Temple. A monster sleeps in the dungeon. AU.


Author's Note: This is an excerpt from my other story, The Last Firebender, so if you're up to date on that story there's nothing new here. I really struggled with whether to post this as a separate short story or not. Ultimately I've decided that I have to. I'm trying to get a gauge of interest. If you like this story, or you enjoyed it in The Last Firebender, leave a review, and I'll write another story purely dedicated to horror.

Updates: I am currently working on a side story exploring the origin of one of the main antagonists in The Last Firebender. The Chemist. I've already got a few chapters written, I just need a beta reader to look over the work and then it'll be ready for post.

Backstory to know: Katara was kidnapped from the Water Tribe at an early age. Sokka woke up Aang using explosives. Sokka and Aang are searching for Katara. Bumi got in a duel with a firebender and is dying from the wounds he got in the fight. Haru was rescued from prison by Sokka and Aang, and decided to join them.

XOXOXOXO

"Aang, is that really you?"

Bumi looked different. He laid in bed, with his face wrapped in bandages. Aang wanted to be grateful. He'd promised himself that he'd enjoy the time he had left with his old friend, but he just couldn't. Not here in this white room, which had a strange soapy smell to it. Bumi was meant to be an adventurer, he shouldn't be here, cooped up in a hospital, he should be out in the world exploring some cave in the wilderness.

"Yeah," Aang said. "It's me."

"And I'm Bumi!" Bumi cackled at the rhyme. "It's good to see you old friend! Come! Let me get a good look at'chya!"

Aang took a step towards Bumi.

"Ahh yes," Bumi said, "Those are some good vibrations, jump up and down, won't ya? And your two friends as well."

What was Bumi even talking about? Vibrations, was it some earthbending thing? No, Haru was scratching his head as well, maybe it was just Bumi being Bumi.

Sokka hopped alone. Then stopped and blushed. "Well he told us… Ahh forget it!"

"Bumi," Aang said. "I need to master the four elements and stop this war as soon as possible, and you're the best earthbender in the world. I'd be honored to have you as a teacher."

"I'd love to Aang, but I'm all wrapped up!" Bumi grabbed his bandages, and cackled at the pun.

"We've got a solution," Sokka said proudly, digging for something in his bag. "The Northern Water Tribe is known for its healers. We're going to rush you there on Appa using a modified saddle." He held up a badly drawn picture of Appa, with two circles holding down a stick figure. "These contraptions, which I'm calling Sokka restraints, will keep you held down while we're in the air. Meanwhile, Haru will be taking care of any bodily functions that may occur, such as sponge baths and diaper change-"

"I'm sorry, but I don't like being tied down," Bumi said. "I know, I know, some people are into that kind of thing, and while I have no problem with that, I myself am not into it. I'm just not that kinda fella'. I'm staying here. I'm _dead_ set on it."

"But why?" Aang asked. The whole reason he'd outed himself as the Avatar was so that he could help people and stop his friends from dying. He'd been so excited when he and Sokka had put together the plan. He was going to go to the Northern Water Tribe, learn to waterbend while they healed Bumi, and then learn to earthbend. He'd finally known what the next few years of his life would be like. He'd even been happy about it! "We're offering a way to save you!"

"Ehh," Bumi said. "I'm a hundred years old. They may be able to heal these wounds but I'll still fall apart like the soggy cabbages I had before my battle. It's not the cabbage merchant's fault of course, his stand was run over by an out of control mail cart. Who knows where that cart came from? Fine, I admit it, it was me! I was using the mailing system as a slide. Do you remember doing that when we were kids Aang?"

"Yeah," Aang said numbly. Bumi had lived for a hundred years and was finally ready to die. He didn't want to be saved; he wanted to say goodbye. "We had fun."

"We sure did," Bumi said happily, tucking himself under some blankets. "You know, I met another kid and showed him the slide, but he didn't enjoy it quite as much as you did. Almost gave him a heart attack. The Phoenix King."

Sokka and Haru gasped. Apparently that was someone famous?

"That's the man who helped me retake Omashu, Aang, if you're wondering. I'm sure you've heard the tale: pentapi, creepers, and poop it's all true. So no need to go over it again right? Now come and take this," Bumi said.

Aang took a wooden tile with a carved white lotus on it. He played around with it, inspecting the notches for any hidden compartments, but he couldn't find anything. It seemed ordinary. Why was Bumi giving him a Pai Sho piece?

"Confused?" Bumi asked. "It is an unusual strategy, and many prefer using the red lotus or the dragon. The white lotus turns the weak strong. It helps unify the battlefield. That tile will be very useful when the time comes. Make sure that your friends grow with you Aang, make sure that one becomes a fearsome earthbender, and that one becomes a resourceful waterbender."

"I'm not a- Oh whatever…" Sokka shook his head and let Bumi talk.

The old king entertained them with stories of his hundred year past. The hopelessness of Azulon's reign, with the Fire Nation conquering city after city. The brutality of Iroh's command: rape and pillage becoming a common strategy to lure soldiers out of fortified strongholds. And in all that darkness emerged the Phoenix King- Aang's replacement- who was the savior the world desperately needed. And finally the enigmatic Fire Lord Ozai, who seemed much less interested in conquest. The Fire Nation was still an enemy to be feared and respected, but seemed distracted, as if they were focused on... A war somewhere else. But where and with who? Nobody knew, and the conversation started to dwindle and die, until Bumi asked an unusual question. "How do you kill a phoenix spirit?"

"Umm," Aang said. "Huh?"

"It's immortal," Bumi said, rubbing his brow with a gnarled finger. "And whenever you kill it, it just gets reborn. So what can you do?"

"Trap it?" Aang said. "Why does this matter? Who would even want to kill a phoenix?"

"What if it stood in the way of all your plans?" Bumi asked, suddenly serious. "What if it were an evil spirit who wanted to destroy the world? What if it was behind every bad thing that has happened over the past one hundred years?"

Evil phoenix? Phoenix King? Were they related? Aang had no idea, he felt out of the loop, but that was nothing unusual. Everybody in the room was looking at him now, so Aang opened his mouth, and let the words spill out. "Well, um, phoenixes are very um, phoenixy. They're a bird that bursts into flame when they're killed, and are meant to signify um, reincarnation of the spirit and stuff. I mean you're right, you couldn't kill it so fighting it would be um..." Aang rambled. "The airbending way would be to reason with the phoenix. If you could just understand each other, I'm sure that you could find some kind of compromise."

"Wrong," Bumi said. "This is an evil phoenix Aang. You could no more stop it from destroying than you could the sun from rising. Well, let's see what your friends have to say. You are?"

"I'm Haru, and I would… Well I'm sure this is probably wrong, but I'd bury the phoenix. If it's trapped underground it doesn't matter if it's reborn every time it's killed."

"Yeah you're right," Bumi said pleasantly. "You were wrong. And what do you have to say?"

"Take away its magic," Sokka said, leaning against a wall. "Without its magic it's just another bird."

"Closer," Bumi said. "But still wrong. Aang you must find an answer to this question or your time as an Avatar will be remembered as a failu… It won't be remembered. This is going to be hard Aang, none of my friends have come up with an answer either, but you are the Avatar. You must find a way."

"Yeah," Aang said. "I will Bumi. Don't even worry about it." He tried not to show his doubt. Everyone kept saying he was the Avatar, asking him to change the world, stop the Fire Nation, stop some demonic spirit. Sure the past Avatars had done incredible things, but Aang wasn't them, he was only himself. He couldn't even bend water yet. Bumi was asking for the impossible, but he was also dying. Aang would have to find some way to make it happen.

"Do you know anything more about this mysteriously evil phoenix thing?" Sokka asked. "It sounds a lot like you're making a convoluted metaphor for hatred and war or something."

"That's not what I'm doing," Bumi said, sighing. "You want information on the phoenix? See the world. You'll find a rockin' place, full of strange animals, foggy forests, and even a centipede that steals faces." Bumi turned in bed, so he was facing away from them. "Now can you all tell the nurse I want my dear pet Fluffy? Daddy misses his precious little boy."

"Sure thing Bumi," Aang said, and hesitated. This might be the last time he saw his friend; was this really how he was going to say goodbye? It seemed like he'd been in a muddled haze since becoming the Avatar except for a few brief moments of clarity. When would things become clear? Was this what it was like to be an adult, always confused? Haru nudged him forward.

Aang hugged Bumi. "I'm sorry I left."

"I'm glad you're back Aang," said Bumi. "I'm happy I got to see you again. Now go out there and save the world!"

Aang nodded, and left full of determination. He was the Avatar! Stop an immortal, evil spirit? Aang laughed at the challenge! Ha, ha, ha! Now he just needed a lead to get started...

"Are you the Avatar?" A tall dark-haired boy asked, as soon as Aang left Bumi's room. "He told you about the phoenix spirit right? Come with me!"

"Who are you?" Sokka demanded. "Were you listening in on us? Are you from the Fire Nation?"

"Does it matter?" The dark-haired boy asked. "I've got information on the phoenix."

"He doesn't look like he's from the Fire Nation," Haru said. "I think we should trust him."

"Looks don't matter," Sokka said. "He could be a spy. Bumi is the best earthbender in the world, and he's dying. I bet the Fire Nation knows we're here. They sent an assassin here to wait for us."

The dark-haired boy sniffed, and grabbed one of Sokka's pouches off his waist. He dipped a finger inside, and tasted some black powder. "Still using sulfur? You're a generation behind."

"Oh really?" Sokka asked sarcastically. "Then what are you using genius?"

"Soap."

"Soap? That's ridiculous, what good would that…" Sokka trailed off, and started to pace. He scratched his head and frowned. He got out a quill, and scribbled on the wall of the pristine, white, hospital hallway, letters and arrows, but it all looked like gibberish. A nurse noticed, but instead of stopping Sokka, inspected the equation closely and whispered something to him. Sokka nodded, and wrote down another line of symbols, with an improvised arrow pointed at a letter that must have represented something. Sokka took a step back, gave a half shrug, and copied down his scribbles onto a scroll, with a caption in the bottom that read: _Figure out later_. _Ask new guy about nitrating process._

"Well he's definitely from the Fire Nation Aang," Sokka said, bouncing on his toes like an airbender who'd scored his first airball goal. "But I think we should trust him anyways."

Haru winced. "Is it true?"

The dark-haired boy glanced at Aang. "My ancestors were Air Nomads. I'm not your enemy Aang. The phoenix is."

Haru nudged Sokka, but Sokka was entranced by the scribbles he'd written earlier. "I know it doesn't mean much, coming from me, but you have to believe me. He's just telling you what you want to hear Aang," Haru said reluctantly.

Could it be true? The dark-haired boy did have gray eyes, but he didn't really have the freedom or the spirit of an airbender. He was a facts guy, like Sokka, and Aang was fine with that, but he definitely wasn't an Air Nomad. Haru was right. This guy was shady.

"Sokka was right," Haru said. "You are Fire Nation. You were sent here to capture the Avatar."

The dark-haired boy tensed.

Monk Gyatso had told him that a fight should be savored when it came to you. That time slowed, your thoughts faded, and you just _did_. He'd told Aang that it was a false nirvana, perhaps the closest man could come to enlightenment in the natural world. He'd also told him it was evil and to be avoided whenever possible. What he hadn't told Aang was the nausea he would feel in his gut, the pins and needle on his skin, and the pure panic that threatened to obliterate all conscious thought. Despite all this, there was no denying that Aang's mind expanded: he noticed the narrow hallways that would make airbending difficult, the three nurses carrying silver trays, several open doors leading to potential hostages, and Sokka, back turned, still focused on his scribbles. How? How had Sokka not noticed the vibrations in the room change? Even the air seemed heavy from the inevitable violence. Haru met Aang's eyes, and jerked his head towards Sokka. If the dark-haired assassin attacked, Aang would save Sokka while Haru covered him.

The assassin's hand darted to his waist where his fingers settled around a wooden handle connected to a metal tube. What was that thing, some kind of weapon? Why not the knife or the glider? Glider...

"Where do you want to go?" Aang asked. Someone with a glider had to be trustworthy and besides, he needed to gather information on the phoenix anyways.

The dark-haired boy's lips curled. "The Northern Air Temple."

XOXOXO

"Teo is a fool," the old shopkeep raved. "Don't listen to his stories. The Northern Air Temple is no place for humans. I've seen many travellers venture into that death trap, and not a single bender has ever returned. It has been touched by evil. Anyone with a lick of sense will do well to avoid that place."

The shopkeep was a dishevelled balding man. His shirt was buttoned so that the left side was higher than the right, and the hair he had left exploded in all directions like a flame. He wore glasses, but had somehow managed to put them on upside down.

"He's right Aang," Teo admitted. "But you're the Avatar. The last airbender. Why do you think that is? Do you really think that the Fire Nation could kill every single airbender, an art devoted to evasion? No. It's the phoenix. It's taken our home and our bending. You have to get it back."

Aang nodded. He and Teo had gotten off on the wrong foot, but they'd patched things up and become fast friends.

The shopkeep pounded on the walls of his tiny shack. It shook and wobbled, and overflowing rows of goods threatened to topple. "You're the Avatar? And you're thinking of going inside? Are you mad! Don't you know the legends? Before the war the airbenders fled! Something was taking them, their most powerful benders, one by one. Stealing their bending! Feeding on there spirits and then wearing their skins! If you give the thing that lives inside the temple the power of the Avatar…" The color drained from the shopkeep's face. "Are you working for _Him_ Teo? Have you struck a deal? Has _It_ promised to return your mother to you?"

Teo grabbed the shopkeep, pinned his chin on the table, and slid the blunt side of his knife along the shopkeep's neck. "_It _killed my mom Rinchen! You think I'd ever work with that _thing_!"

The shopkeep struggled in Teo's grip, but couldn't escape. Aang's knuckles tightened against his glider. He didn't want to turn on a friend, but he would if he had too. "You're starting to sound just like your father Teo. He used to tell me the same thing," the shopkeep said, wearing a cruel smirk.

Teo tensed and flipped his knife. Shit. Aang leapt forward, sending the tall dark-haired boy flying with a gust of wind. Goods from the shack cascaded to the ground in a clatter, and its walls shook madly. The shopkeep collected himself, and nodded at Aang. "Teo is using you for revenge. He doesn't know it, but he has already been seduced by _Its _whispers. If you go to the Northern Air Temple, the spirits there will suck you dry and use your powers to bring about the end of existence."

"Did it really wear people's faces?" Aang asked. Bumi had mentioned a centipede that stole faces. He'd been telling him to come here!

The shopkeep frowned. "This is no joking matter Avatar. If one of those _things_ catches you, it won't kill you- it'll do something much, much worse."

"C'mon Aang, let's go," Teo said. "We've gotten the glycerin we need. Now Rinchen's just trying to scare you."

"'Kay," Aang said, bouncing on his toes. This was great, he was finally performing his Avatar duties. Sure the mission was creepy, but here he was! Acting like the Avatar! He couldn't wait to return to camp. But first he had to go through the forest.

The trees in this area of the world were strange. They were short and squat, with other trees of the same kind budding off branches. Several of the trunks had cracked and fallen partially to the ground, with strands of moss-fungus feeding on the carcass. And instead of the song of bat-birds, he heard the monotone drone of grasshopper-locusts. Finally they arrived at camp. Aang greeted Haru, and Sokka and Teo disappeared behind a tree to make explosives. Once the sun had risen high in the sky, they were ready to go, but Teo cleared his throat as they were about to get on Appa.

"I'm sure you've all heard the rumors," Teo said. "That if you're caught the spirits will contaminate your soul, and steal your skin. Superstitious nonsense. Here take these," He handed each member of the search party a little ball that looked like a cherry. "If you get caught just pull the stem. Inside is an explosive my father and I developed called nitroglycerin. It doesn't need a spark, just a jerk. It'll blow you and whatever caught you back to the spirit world, so there's really nothing to fear."

Haru gave his cherry bomb a heavy stare. "Are you sure about this Aang? I think we should go to the North Pole. You should be farther along in your Avatar training before you face the phoenix. You're not ready."

"Yip, yip," Aang said, pulling Appa's reins. Together they flew to the spires that pierced the clouds. The Northern Air Temple. He was done with running from his problems.

XOXOXOXO

For all the horror stories told about it, the Northern Air Temple looked like any ordinary wonder of the world. Spires that split the clouds, narrow winding roads across the mountaintop, and pristine Air Nomad masonry made up the temple. It was far more beautiful than scary and while it was totally crazy that man had built such a place it was clearly built by man. Not aliens. Not spirits. Just man.

Appa landed on a flat connected to the tallest tower, and Sokka slid to the ground and admired the view. Beautiful white-capped mountains dotted the top of the horizon. Sokka leaned over the edge of a cliff, sucked up some snot, and spat a loogey down to the clouds below. It reached terminal velocity quickly, was caught by an updraft, and came rushing back. Sokka jumped out of the way. "Nice try universe, but I'm not that easy!"

"Alright guys, let's go over the plan one more time," Teo said, clapping his hands. "We're going to go single file. Me first. Followed by Haru, Aang, then Sokka in the back."

The plan was solid, if underappreciated by the less logically inclined of the group. Sokka doubted that the so called evil spirits existed, but there was obviously something dangerous lurking in the temple. Poisonous gas? Bandits? A secret Fire Nation base? Whatever it was, the man taking point would be in the most danger. If the secret of the temple was bandits, it was likely they'd strike from the rear. Thus Teo put the two most disposable members of the team in the two most dangerous positions.

"When we explore a room me and Sokka check it out first. If we don't find anything, we'll call Haru in, and check over the room again. Then Aang enters and we can go deeper," Teo said.

Plenty of nonbenders had explored the Northern Air Temple. To them it was just a collection of old abandoned buildings. The spirits only attacked benders, and even then, only at night. Thus they would all investigate the temple during the day and get a feel for its layout. Sokka and Teo would continue exploring that night, and if they found nothing, they'd search the temple a third time with Haru. Only if all three attempts to find the mystery of the phoenix failed would Aang be allowed to join them. Cautious? Yes. Paranoid? Obviously. Sokka didn't even believe in any of the superstitious phoenix nonsense, but he was a rationalist and a pessimist, and he knew that the second he puffed out his chest the universe would send his own loogey back at-

"Aang what are you doing?" Teo cried. Aang had sprinted inside the temple, leaving Teo's carefully constructed plan in tatters. Aang hopped back to the temple entrance.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Aang asked, balancing upside down on a ball of wind. He flipped to his feet in a dizzying display of acrobatics. "That phoenix isn't going to find itself."

"What about the plan?" Teo asked. "We need to keep you safe. If the phoenix is real, and it-"

"Relax Teo," Aang said, strutting to the older boy like a peacock-rooster. "It'll never catch me. Besides, your way sounds boring. So slow! Where's your airbending spirit? Let's make it an adventure!"

Teo smiled. "You're right. The plan's garbage. Let's do this!" The two boys charged into the temple. Sokka and Haru shared a look, tightened their grips on their cherry bombs, and sprinted after their leader. They entered a long dark hallway, with bright rays of light shining in from rows of windows. There were no objects scattered about, no dust in the air, and no animals or insects scurrying below. The walls contained a mural of clouds, the colors still sharp, as if they'd just been painted yesterday. At the hallway's end stood a heavy wooden door, covered in pipes and ornamental spirals.

"Let me handle this," Sokka said, pulling out a knife. He stabbed as hard as he could, burying the carved ivory into wood. He held his ear to the hilt, and heard the soft ringing of the ocean. He forced himself to wait for some disruptions: a knock, a thud, or any other rhythm almost too quiet to hear. He heard nothing. "Alright Haru. Open the doors. It's clear."

"Me?" Asked Haru, "What am I supposed to do?"

"You're an earthbender remember? Earthbend!"

"But-"

"You can do this Haru," Sokka said.

Haru bit his lip, and heaved his arms upwards, pulling some bricks off the ground. He lunged forward, pelting the door with projectiles. They bounced off it, leaving no damage but for some ugly imprints.

"Stop!" Aang snarled. "What are you doing? This place is sacred!"

"We need to get the door open," Sokka explained. "Haru keep trying. I think I heard something crack."

"I said stop!" Aang rammed Haru with a shoulder, knocking him to the ground. "What's wrong with you people? How would you like it if I went to your house, and started breaking everything!"

Sokka would simply patch the hole in the igloo with more snow, and move on. No big deal.

"We need to get the door open," Teo said. "I'm sorry it offends you Aang, but my ancestors abandoned this place. There's something evil inside. It's your duty as the Avatar to find it and exterminate it."

"You've forgotten our teachings Teo." Aang sniffed, walked to the door, and pointed to two pipe openings that looked like little airhorns. "You still have a lot to learn about the world. You're so obsessed with how it needs to change that you don't take the time to understand it. You can't force this temple open by attacking it with weapons and bending." Aang held out his arms, and channelled an air current into the piping. The wind whistled and howled. It grew stronger, until something deep within the wood clicked, and the doors slowly creaked open in the opposite direction that they'd been pushing. Darkness oozed from the room, slowly giving way to light. "You've got to work with it, and gently pull it to your will. You can't kill a phoenix Teo. Never speak of murder so lightly! Peace and understanding are the ways of the Air Nomad!"

Bones littered the front of the room. It was hard to tell how many people had died here, as their skeletons had broken apart into fragments. Sokka picked up a perfectly preserved femur and a tiny ribcage that must've come from a rodent. They still seemed strong, the type of bone that could be whittled down into a spear. The femur was white and polished, with no sign of blood or damage, which shouldn't have been possible unless someone had cleaned it. Sokka got a sinking feeling. Aang wouldn't like it, but he had to know. "Don't freak out Aang. I'm doing this for a good reason."

Sokka snapped the femur in two, revealing it hollow. No bone marrow. There should've been something in there, mold, alcohol, anything. Matter didn't just go away. Matter couldn't be destroyed, only altered. At least that's what the old textbooks from the ship had said. Sokka looked over the bone for any holes, anyway the marrow could have escaped. He found nothing. "Guys, I think I've…"

Aang was staring at a chiseled stone statue. One of several. It was life-sized, and depicted a proud old man, hair tied in a bun, dressed in elegant Fire Nation silk. Some of the other statues were men, some women, some wore humble Air Nomad tunics, other Water Tribe furs. They all shared athletic builds that spoke of a lifetime of training in the bending arts, and the confidence that came from only the truly powerful. They also shared one other, small, insignificant detail. They had no eyes. Someone had scratched them out.

Hmm. The Fire Nation had probably been here. A sect that had a grudge against the Avatar. It would explain the childish vandalization of the statues, and the empty bones. What a bunch of freaks.

"Do any of you guys see anything?" Teo asked, circling the perimeter of the room, gliding his fingers across the bricks. "Something was here, but _It_ left. I'm not seeing any doors or anything. Unless I'm missing something; _It _must be in another spire."

Haru nudged Sokka. "I don't like it here. This place gives me a bad feeling."

"Yeah," Sokka said, pulling out a spear. His mind was… There was something… He couldn't put a finger on it, but something wasn't quite right. It went deeper than the skeletons or the scratched out eyes, it was something else. An echo… No a whisper! Like knives in his ears! "Be prepared for an attack."

Teo heard him, tilted his head, and pulled out his… Little metal tube? Why not the knife or the cherry bombs? "It shoots fire," Teo said, nodding to the tube. "I call it a fire spitter."

"Eww," Sokka squealed. Teo handed him the new toy reluctantly, and Sokka turned it over, inspecting its compartments. A little hole on top to drop… Sokka pulled out one of the nitroglycerin bombs they made together, and compared the relative sizes. Didn't fit, and of course, where would the fire come from? The mechanism must've worked in some fundamentally different way, but then again, why should it? Sokka handed Teo the fire spitter, mind racing. _What if you took the same basic concept: an explosion in a small chamber, directed by a metal tube, and replaced the fire with a small projectile?_ Sokka's heart raced, and he whipped out a scroll. It was a map of the world, the only one he had, but right now its value paled in comparison to the idea he had in his head. It felt like he was channelling something else, something beyond himself, and he was simply the medium for its creation. He knew the connection wouldn't last long. He sketched an empty chamber, with a cherry bomb pushed and secured at the back end. Behind the chamber he sketched a hammer to set off the bomb, and below a magazine which would secure the… The little metal arrowheads. The lighter the better. The faster they moved the more deadly they would be. The chamber would have one permanent opening upon the drop of the hammer, a long metal tube to guide the arrow head in the direction the user wanted. He nodded and added little markers atop the end of the tube, to help the shooter aim. All right, that was the gist of it. His first invent-

Red energy exploded from the walls, covering them all in a blinding bloody hue. And in a flash the lights faded, forming… Letters, words, a message?

_Before I ascended, man lacked morals and chaos reigned. To change this, I tried to create a moral code. Religion. But afterwards, man's descendents grew strict and rigid. Baby girls drowned for my favor. I never intended this. Destroy me if you must, but only me. We will need the others. He grows stronger. I am sorry. _

_This was once told to a dear friend. Do you like it? Now come. Find me._

"What?" Aang asked, suddenly pale. "What the fuck was that?"

Sokka blinked, he'd never heard Aang swear. It was a dumb question with an obvious answer. It was a message to Aang. From Bumi's phoenix. The spirit that couldn't be killed, the spirit that wanted to destroy the world. The spirit of evil. By the moon, he'd taken this to lightly. They weren't ready! He and Teo would be useless in a fight, Aang had no attack power, and Haru could barely earthbend. They needed to retreat, and come up with a better plan.

It was the most logical course of action. They hadn't come here for a confrontation. They'd only come for information. They'd gotten their information; it was time to go.

"There's a room below us," Haru said. "I can feel the absence of the earth."

"It's a riddle," Teo said. "There must be a trapdoor hidden somewhere. It must be underneath one of the statues. An Air Nomad most likely. They didn't accept girls into their ranks."

"We have to destroy it," Aang said slowly. "Whichever Avatar created this message has to be destroyed. That thing's waiting for us. Let's go kill it."

"It's why we're here," Haru said, shoulders set. "That thing doesn't stand a chance against me!"

"It took my mom from me," said Teo, a big smile spreading across his face like a bloodthirsty plague. "I wouldn't mind a little revenge."

Sokka's eyes widened. _It_ was here already, and more dangerous than he had ever considered. "Haru! Aang! LEAVE!"

They stared.

"NOW!" Sokka roared.

"Come on Sokka," Aang said, his smile stretching wider and wider, approaching slowly, carefully. "I know it's scary, but it's our job to-"

"If you're not out of here in the next three seconds, I'm pulling the stem." Sokka held out his cherry bomb. "One... Two... Thr-"

"Okay Sokka," said Haru, smile dimming just a little. "But we'll come back at the first sign of danger. We won't leave you."

The benders left.

Sokka exhaled.

The stories said that the monster in the Northern Air Temple stole a man's bending, and _wore their skins_. Aang was a pacifist. Haru was a coward. Teo was… Well he honestly didn't seem to affected, but the legends did say nonbenders had nothing to fear.

"Sokka?" Teo asked, hand on the holster of his fire spitter. "What _the fuck_ were you doing?"

"You don't feel _Him_?" Sokka asked. "Haru that confident? Aang talking about killing? He's already in all our minds. Distorting our thoughts. Corrupting our souls."

Teo narrowed his eyes, and pointed the fire spitter at Sokka. "You were the one threatening to blow us all up. You were the one who said you believed in science. Yet here you are justifying your actions through fear of the supernatural. If anyone's soul has been corrupted, it's yours."

Sokka tilted his head, as he looked over one Avatar statue after another. "You're wrong you know? You and Aang were wrong. You thought that riddle was about an airbender?" Sokka sneered. "You thought it was a confession? All I heard were excuses." He paused on an airbending Avatar, and inspected her stone dress. Soft and smooth, like one from the Earth Kingdom. He passed over a male waterbender, and moved on to an earthbender. A tall, stern woman bearing two fans. He glanced down the row, and as he suspected, all the preceding airbenders were men wearing modest tunics.

Teo continued to aim the fire spitter at Sokka, but inspected the last female airbender more closely. "Mom?"

"Um Teo, that's a statue of an Avatar who's been dead for hundreds of years."

"No shit," Teo said. "I'm talking about this." He pointed at the woman's feet, and Sokka noticed a little inscription carved in the stone. _Roll lick flip rat. Lap full road rest fun lock leap fill. _ "That's my mom's handwriting."

Sokka scratched his head. Teo's mom must have gone mad, but that wasn't what was important. "If your mom's carvings are on the statue she obviously didn't destroy it, which makes sense, because the riddle isn't talking about an airbender." Sokka settled next to the last man in furs, before a long line of male airbenders in tunics. A proud tall man, wearing an easy going smile. He looked smug. Like Bato. "I know a tribesman when I hear him. He blamed the people before him for forcing him to create religion. He blamed the people after him for warping it. But he himself is blameless. Do you see?" Sokka caressed the man's face, and the statue slowly sunk. Its feet melted into the floor, its face dissolved into dust. "The confession was a lie. It wasn't a confession at all. It was an excuse."

A spiral staircase was revealed. They could walk down it, and go into the dungeons. Go farther into the monster's lair. But they should probably regroup now that they knew the phoenix was real. They'd already learned how it could affect people, and that was huge. A wise commander knew when to retreat. But the staircase had a pull on Sokka. He wanted to learn more about spirits, more about chi, and all that mystical nonsense he'd always thought was a load of bull-turkey.

The heavy wooden entrance to the Avatar Room groaned. Slowly, the large doors started to close, started to finalize their departure from the material world.

Sokka and Teo shared a glance. They could still escape if they ran for the exit. Or they could go down the staircase, and find the mysteries hidden in the dungeon. Natural light started to bleed from the room but it did not get darker. Red balls of energy ignited in the air, and pulsated around Sokka. He had the distinct feeling they were being watched.

The doors thudded to a close. Sokka stepped down the staircase. Teo followed

Sokka was surrounded by darkness. The red lights had faded as the staircase ended, leaving Sokka in an empty, flat, void.

"Teo? You there?"

"I'm here Sokka."

Sokka let out a breath. He'd never heard true silence before. Never heard the deafening, ringing, roar of nothingness. He could hear it now, and it was unnerving. And impossible. If a room was so well insulated that it blocked out all outside noise, it should also reflect sound off the walls in an echo. But when Teo spoke, the noise died instantly.

Sokka kneeled, and brushed the ground. Flat, dry, and rough. Felt like bricks or cement. Normal stuff.

"Hey Sokka, come feel this," Teo said.

Sokka took a few steps forward, to meet the voice, and smacked into a wall. It budged. Sokka held out his hands and pushed, and the wall gave way. Until it didn't anymore, and could be moved no farther. Strange.

"This is a revolving-one-way door," Teo said softly. "My mom and dad used to build them together back before she disappeared. They only allow entrance from one direction and shut as soon as you go through them."

"Maybe there's another one," Sokka said uncomfortably. "Let's slide against the walls and search for another one. You go left, I go right."

"Gotcha."

Sokka pushed against the walls but felt nothing but bricks. Until he hit something. Another wall. He pinched the corner with a thumb; the two walls formed a perpendicular. This place wasn't a cave, which begged the question, why build any of this? Didn't make sense, Sokka thought, as he pushed against the wall. Why build a maze under a statue? Unless you wanted to keep something secret. Like the worship of an evil, but powerful spirit, which led to an obvious conclusion. Sokka and Teo should be sprinting up the stairs, away from all of this spiritual mumbo-jumbo, where up was down and left was right. And yet…

The wall slid from Sokka's touch. "Teo! Come here!"

Together they pushed the door, and it turned and turned until it turned no more. Everything was still dark, but Sokka was pretty sure they were somewhere new. Something snapped under his feet. There were some rocks on the ground, some long and skinny, some small and sharp, and others… That one was definitely a ribcage. These were bones.

"You go left, I go right?" Teo asked.

"Sure," Sokka said. He slid against the wall, and found nothing. "Where do you think the bones come from?" They hadn't been hunted, or they'd have been more damaged, so they must have come from dehydration or starvation.

"Explorers," Teo murmured softly. "My mom wouldn't have died here though. Not from a dead end. She's better than that."

Sokka shivered.

Teo found a door, which led to a room with more skeletons, and another door. Naturally they went through it, and found another room. No skeletons in this one.

"Same as always?" Teo asked. "Me right; you left?"

"Sounds good." Sokka slid against the walls, turned at the corner, and found another door.

"Got one!" Teo said.

"Me too," said Sokka. This wasn't good, but perhaps it was no worse than what they'd been doing before. It wasn't like they could go back the way they came. The only difference was that they had a choice. Left or right.

"My Gran-Gran used to tell me that if you got lost in a cave always turn left." There wasn't any difference which door they chose to go through. They had no information. If they sat and thought about it, they'd end up overthinking things, and get invested in a decision they had no control over. "Teo, let's go through my door… Teo?"

"Will you shut up?" Teo snapped. "I'm trying to think."

"What's there to think about? Just choose a damn door!"

"Do you know what shut up means?"

"You want us to go through your door? Fine!"

"That's _not_ what this is about. I'm just trying too… You know what, never mind!"

"What were you gonna say?" Sokka demanded.

"It's just… I don't remember much about my mom okay? She disappeared in here, and the last thing she wrote was… See, I told you, stupid!"

"Yeah it is," Sokka said brazenly. "I was hoping you were thinking of something useful. Like which door to choose, not about your _dead_ mother."

Sokka waited.

Silence roared.

Darkness shined.

"Do you remember which way we've gone?" Teo asked eagerly, childishly, without any of the venom Sokka expected.

"I do," Sokka said. He'd be a lousy hunter if he couldn't retrace his steps. "We went right after the staircase, left to the next room, and straight through to get here."

"Right, left, forward," Teo said, a smile hidden in his voice. "Roll, lick, flip, rat. Lap full road rest fun lock leap fill. I think we should go right, through my door."

"Finally," Sokka said, and they pushed through the door. Into another room. This one had skeletons. A door. And a staircase. They went down it, and descended, and descended, and descended.

Finally they were at the bottom. A new room. Still dark. But no longer empty. There was a great, big, stone… Something. Clearly a statue, but of what Sokka couldn't say. He couldn't tell much about it without any light, but it didn't feel human. Nor did it feel like an animal. If anything, it felt like an inverted stalacti-

Sokka snapped his neck. He'd thought he'd heard something. A scurrying sound, like a bug or a crab or… "Teo. That you?"

"Yeah," said Teo, and Sokka blew out a breath. "This place is huge. Wide open. I think we're in the caves under the mountain."

"No," said Sokka. "The ground is too flat and even. We're still walking on- Teo stop moving!" Nothing. Sokka must have imagined- No. Not twice. Something was in here. Watching. Waiting. Sokka took a breath. Then another. Okay… His fingers tightened around his boomerang. He could catch it in his sleep, so surely he could catch it in complete darkness. He tossed it at the last place he'd heard the sound. The ceiling.

_It screamed. _A flash of fire lit the room, and _It _dropped to the ground _Its _arm smothered in blood. And then _It _turned, giving Sokka a good look at _Its _face.

The, the _thing _was… _It_ wasn't… _It_ wasn't _right_. _It_ wasn't _acceptable._ _Its_ eyes were shiny, reflective, and compound, _Its_ face covered in white fur, and _Its_ legs were… _Its_ legs were human. Then _Its_ features blurred, coalesced, rippled, and slithered into the soft face of a beautiful gray-eyed woman. _Its_ body was now entirely human, but if anything _It_ was even worse, even more disturbing, because no matter what form _It_ chose, Sokka could find no soul behind _Its_ eyes. Intelligence certainly, but no consciousness. This was nature given will, a violation against the universe, and the most powerful form of bending Sokka had ever seen: Life Bending. _It _raised a hand, and gently called Sokka forth. His legs moved on their own, against his will, against the command of his very soul, and Sokka found himself bowing before _It._

_It _placed a cold hand on Sokka's head, and covered him in soft flames that seeped through his skin, and ignited his soul. A fire exploded from Sokka's palm. It was a miracle. He was firebending.

No.

No!

NO!

Sokka wasn't one of those horrible, disgraceful, selfish human beings who called themselves benders. He would never ever be a self-absorbed piece of shit like his father! _It _was simply firebending through him. Nothing more. Sokka would forever and always be a nonbender. He broke from whatever trance that little chimera abomination had held over him, and took a long look at his prey. Its arm still bled from where he'd smashed It with his boomerang. If he could make It bleed he could make It die.

"Teo," Sokka said sharply. "Give me your firespitter."

The chimera tilted Its head, and raised a finger, wiggling it back and forth as if to say come here. But, to Sokka at least, Its form was rippling once again, Its skin starting to melt like wax.

Teo stumbled towards the abomination, his eyes betraying madness and desperation.

"Mother? Mother is that really you? It's me! Teo! I'm here to rescue you!"

It continued to melt and various eyes opened throughout Its body as if they were bursting pimples. The irises contracted, focusing on Sokka with their deep emptiness.

"Everyone told me I was mad. They told me you'd be dead. But here you are Mother, alive and well!" Teo giggled like a child. "Isn't that right Mother? Mother? Mother, come back," Teo pawed at the abomination as It slithered towards Sokka. "Come back! Tell me what you need, and I'll give it to you." He fell to the ground, crying. "Do you need my soul? You can have it. Take it!"

Although Its body now resembled a slug-toad, It kept Its face unchanged. Then It flickered, and lunged. Sokka stuck It with his spear, and sidestepped out of the way. The Thing writhed and coiled and continued to bleed. There. Not so hard. Definitely easier than killing a polar wolf-bear. Sokka tightened his grip on his spear, and stalked forward to end the hunt.

And was slammed to the ground. Teo straddled him, and slammed a fist into his eye. His head bounced off the ground, and Sokka felt his brain jiggle, but it wasn't so bad, not really, he'd needed to get close anywa- Teo punched him again.

And again.

And again.

Until Sokka knocked him off.

"How dare you," Teo said, his face contorted and twisted by madness and insanity but still distinctly human. "How dare you hurt Mother!"

Sokka pointed the firespitter he'd just stolen at It and pulled the trigger. A good old-fashioned flame- consistent with the natural laws of physics and chemistry- erupted from Teo's invention, and burned _It _alive.

"No," Teo screamed, running to the abomination, desperately trying to smother the flickering red flames with his cloak. "Mother! You can't die! You can't leave us! _Not again_!"

The fire had lit the room well, and it had an eerie beauty. It was circular, with two statues on both ends, one in darkness and one in light. Opposing forces. Yin and- holy shit, the walls were dripping inky shadows. Containing red eyes. What the fuck! Why the fuck had he thought it would be a good fuckin' idea to come down to this fuckin' crazy cult fuckin' temple, with all these evil fuckin' whatevers?

"You killed Mother!" Teo seethed in place, as the shadows crawled closer, the abomination still burning. "I'll never forgive you!"

Yeah.

Sokka was done here.

He ran. Sprinted. Up the spiral staircase. To the maze. Now he understood where the skeletons had come from. Fools who'd had their skins stolen. Fools who'd taken a wrong turn. He had to go through all the rooms in the correct order, and-he-had-to-do-it-right…

He took a breath. Then another. He felt the shadows behind him, he knew evil penetrated his mind, but he needed to be beyond that. If he were a bender like Aang or his sister perhaps he could survive through magic and destiny, but he was just Sokka. An insignificant nothing to the universe, an easily disposable side character. The only weapon he had was logic. He'd need to use it if he or he'd become an evil puppet like Teo's mother… Teo's mother had left directions. What were they?

The door was made of an aged, polished, wood. It even had a little- Why-was-it-visible?

Teo's mother, Teo's mother, what were the words, what were the words? Think, think, think! And then they came to him, conveniently appearing in his memory: Lap full road rest fun lock leap fill. He pushed the door open, red eyes on his heel, turned left, and pushed his way through another door. Forward. Right. Right... Sokka panted heavily, and forced open another heavy door. His lungs burned, his skin tingled, and his heart hammered. Left… Sokka dug down deep, put his head down, and heaved his way through another door. One more, one more, then he'd take a quick-

Something pinched his right hand. Just slightly. He barely felt it. And yet his skin had been punctured. Blood leaked. The world started to… Memories flashed. Him and Katara, a quick stream of fire, horror, a flash of water. The secret. Shared between them. Chief Bato. The tribe...

Sokka couldn't stop them. He couldn't control his memories. His darkest fantasies, his deepest secrets, his strongest convictions were all viewed and shared without his consent. The battleship. A toy steamboat. Pride. Rejection. Failure. Katara gone. Anger. Rage. Isolation. Full moon. Iceberg. Splitting. Aang. Lies- No, his will, his will, Sokka still had control of his will. Without logic, without thought, he forged on.

He pushed open another door and ran like his very soul depended on it.

XOXOXOXO

Stars and a purple striped sky above them, the beautiful Northern Air Temple below them, his Avatar quest before him, tonight was gonna be a great night. Aang just knew it.

"... And earthbending is the element of will… Aang are you listening?"

Aang always loved being in the sky, but just this once he wished he was on the ground. Exploring the Temple, discovering its mysteries, going on an adventure. He was an air bender to his core, and the essence of airbending was so much more than the bending itself: air was the element of freedom.

"This is how you bend a rock!"

Aang bobbed around what must've been a bird or something. It was strange, back in Kyoshi Island a nice group of girls had followed him around. It had been because he'd been the Avatar. He'd had his fans among the Air Nomads too, but he'd always found it annoying to be fawned over by boys and monks, and yet… And yet when a group of cute girls thought he was awesome it was just amazing! Why the difference?

"Aang please… It was your idea to learn earthbending! If you pay attention for five minutes we can take a ten minute break!"

Ah well… perhaps he'd never know. The world was still mysterious to Aang. He just had to keep his eyes and ears open and there was no telling what he could learn!

"I left my home for you Aang! I left my father after I'd just met him, I left my mother before I could say goodbye, all to teach you just a bit of earthbending!"

He shouldn't have let Sokka boss him out of the fun part of the adventure. Now he was stuck out here with Haru just killing time. Boring! "What do you think was wrong with Sokka? Why do you think he went coo-coo in there?"

Haru sighed. "To protect us. You were in there. You must have felt It pressing on your mind."

He'd felt… Something… They'd all been drawn to go deeper inside and meet the being's calling. "I'm the Avatar though, I don't need to be protected!"

"You'd be just as helpless as the rest of us," Haru said. "Right now you're just an airbender."

Then Aang remembered. He'd asked Haru to teach him to earthbend, but then well… There'd been a lot of stuttering and back tracking and Aang had gotten confused and stopped listening. Aang didn't want to be mean, but it didn't seem like Haru knew what he was doing. "Sorry Master," Aang said confidently, wiggling his ears. "I'm ready now. Teach away!"

Haru chuckled weakly. "Right. So earthbending is the element of…" Haru trailed off, and muttered under his breath, "Am I doing this right? What does it even matter? Maybe later? No basics first, but what if…"

"Can you teach me how to bend a rock," Aang suggested.

"Right here's a stone," Haru said, handing Aang a pebble. "Now bend it!"

"Um," Aang said, twirling the stone between his fingers. "How?"

Haru blushed. "So um… You reach out, with us, your um… Senses? And you just kind of make it move? Does that make sense?"

Aang scratched his head. No it didn't, but Haru looked like he was about to cry. "I think I get it." He tossed the stone in the air, it was picked up by the wind, and pelted Appa's tail. His big buddy shook his head, and glared back at his two passengers.

Aang tried a few more times, but was never even close to being successful. "Maybe I don't get it as well as I thought," Aang said. "Can you explain it to me again?"

"Um it's like I said earlier," said Haru. "Wait what did I say earlier? Um, move the stone- Uh, let's just start over okay?"

"Sure!" said Aang.

"So first you try and, um, feel the stone. With, uh, your senses… That's not really helpful is it? It's kind of like you hear the stone, but also not like that at all. You know when you choke on food, and realize you can feel way deeper in your throat than you thought you could? The rock is like that only it's outside you, and you can't really feel it."

Aang rubbed the rock between his fingers. It felt dry and coarse, like a rock. "I'm definitely feeling the rock pretty good. I still don't get how to bend it though. Why don't you show me and explain what you're doing as you do it?"

"Right," Haru brightened. He held a pebble between his fingers, and narrowed his eyes. "First you… You get a… A feel for the rock… Alright, I'm having a tough time trying to talk while I do it, so let me just show you and then describe what I'm doing afterwards?"

"Okay Master," said Aang.

Haru held the pebble between his fingers, giving it a solid deathglare that eight out of six Avatars would rate as very intimidating (Or something like that, numbers were more Sokka's thing), let go of the pebble and watched it fly into the wind- Was that supposed to happen? It kinda looked like he'd just dropped it. Was Aang missing the earthbending? Was this some kind of weird out there lesson on life? Apparently not. Haru held out another pebble, but the same thing happened: when he let go it was carried away by the wind.

"Dammit!" Haru swore, crying. "Why am I even here? Who are we trying to fool Aang? I don't belong here! I'm not good enough to teach you earthbending, I'm not brave like Sokka, and I'm not smart like Teo. I'm just holding you all back!"

"Sure," Aang said. "Maybe you are. It's no problem. Keep on practicing your earthbending, get better and better, and the next time you teach me you'll do a lot better."

"Easy for you to say," Haru said. "You're the Avatar, and every Avatar is a bending prodigy. I've been trying to earthbend since I was a kid, and I can still barely do it!"

"So we'll find you an earthbending master," Aang said cheerfully. "And we'll learn how to earthbend together. Besides, if you leave I'll be the only bender!" Aang put an arm around Haru's shoulder, and whispered urgently. "Sokka has already started threatening me with math lessons, and Teo has brought up thermometer-dynamisms or something like three times! You can't leave me with those two!"

"Thanks Aang," Haru said sheepishly. "You're right. I am what I am. I just have to get better. It's as simple as that."

Aang creased his eyebrows. Haru still didn't get it. Aang wanted Haru to be on the team because he liked Haru. It didn't matter that he wasn't the best bender. "There is more to a relationship than how useful the two people are to each other," Aang said. "I don't see you as a tool Haru. I see you as a fri-"

A flash of light exploded halfway down a spire. "That must be Sokka!" Haru said. "We've gotta go find him."

He was right. But this… He'd have to talk with Haru later. Aang took Appa's reins and guided his buddy towards the explosion. There was a little ledge on the spire, and a figure waved at them, jumping up and down.

"Where's Sokka?" Aang asked, jumping onto the ledge. He searched the masonry for a door, but couldn't find one. How had Teo even gotten here?

"If you're looking for a door you won't find one. I lost _Them_ for a bit, and I was able to glide down over here." Teo wiped his eyes, and stared at his feet. "Me and Sokka got seperated and I… We've got to go Aang. We awakened something when we entered there, and I… I think it's gonna leave the Temple now that it knows the Avatar is near. It's only a matter of time before it finds us, and you're not gonna be able to face it."

"What about Sokka?" Haru asked. "He's still inside! We've got to go save him!"

"We can't," Teo said. "We go inside we lose the Avatar for sure! The Dark Phoenix is more powerful than I thought. We're not ready!"

"Sokka wouldn't leave us!" Haru shouted. "When I got captured by the Fire Nation he tried to save me!"

"That was the…" Teo took a deep breath, and calmed himself. "Sokka would tell us to leave. He'd tell us that we can't risk the tribe for one man. It's a hard decision Avatar, but it's one a wise leader must make. We've got to go. We can't risk the entire world for a single savage who is already dead."

"Aang you're not seriously-"

"When I say the entire world I mean the entire world. What I saw in there…" Teo shuttered. "_It _was pure evil, and _It_ could steal a person's soul. Everything from their personality to their bending. If _It _gets the power of the Avatar nobody is gonna be able to stop _It_."

"That's enough," Aang said. "Everyone get on Appa. I've made my decision."

XOXOXOXOXO

Sokka cowered behind one of the Avatar Statues. He'd made it through the maze somehow, but he'd heard… He'd heard…

Footsteps. He'd heard them just behind him the entire way. Always following.

"Come out friend," said a terrible something, using… Using… _Using Sokka's voice_. "You've nothing to fear. We're not going to hurt you."

Sokka felt something leak from him. Other than his blood. Other than his memories. Other than his soul. Urine. He was pissing his pants. The other hunters would have had a field day. They'd have never let him live it down. Sokka the Coward they'd call him. Sokka the Spineless they'd taunt. Sokka the Boy they'd tease. But at least he wouldn't be Sokka, Hakoda's son, a chip off the ole' block.

"_He's_ quite interested in you now. _He _already has a partner, but unlike the… _Other_, _Father_ must always be on the lookout for replacements," said the abomination, using Sokka's voice. "I won't take you. So stop hiding behind the _Avatar_ and come. Join us."

Sokka hid.

The room lit up, and a fire blast decimated one of the Avatar statues. "Ahh. If only it were Aang, don't you think Sokka? We've always hated the Avatar. It's so rare to find a human who rejects _Father's_ gifts." The abomination smiled, and whipped a statue to jagged pieces with a string of water.

It was bending water. It had already bent fire. Only the Avatar could bend multiple elements. The Avatar, and this… Sokka realized something more important. This Thing, perhaps it was taking his soul from his wound. Perhaps if-

"Fine." Sokka could hear the smile in the imitation's voice. "Hide. Die. I'll eat your memories and join your friends. I'll act just like you, I'll think I am you, but I will always carryout _Father's_ will. It is better this way. I can use your face to bring about the Avatar's demise. Besides, there are other replacements. Others who have the right… Mentality to host _Father_. Like perhaps your dear little sister _Katara_."

Sokka twitched. He searched his belt for his knife. There! His fingers tightened around its hilt.

"_Father's _always watched over her," said the abomination, Its footsteps creeping closer and closer. "Ever since she was born. _He's_ guided her on her journey, and they've grown closer and closer. Everything she does, she does for _Him_."

It stopped as Sokka choked down screams, and he could hear the pleasure in Its voice at It delivered Its last line.

"Even leaving you."

XOXOXOXOXOX

Light burst out from underneath the heavy doors to the Avatar room. Within a few moments someone was banging on the wall. Teo had told them that even if they found Sokka, he'd probably be a puppet of the phoenix. Aang knew if that was the case he'd be able to tell right away. He could tell the difference between a friend and a monster.

"Aang? Haru?" Sokka called. "Anybody? Somebody help! They're coming!"

Aang bent two currents into the air horns on the doors, and waited as the air traveled slowly through the winding pipes, as the locks and levers and mechanisms meticulously clicked into place, and the door crawled open.

Red-eyed shadows poured from the eyes of the Avatar statues, covering the floor, and rapidly morphing into… Aang didn't wait to find out, blasting them with his strongest airbending. The wind tore the statues from the ground, and slammed them through the spires walls, but did nothing to the demon shadows. Actually it made them grow faster, into terrible soulless airbenders with no spirit. Something was just _wrong_ about them. Aang bent another strong gust at them, trying to make them just go away, but those _Things_ opened their mouths, and sucked the magic right out of the sky. Bending wasn't working. It wasn't working!

_Bending wasn't working!_

Aang grabbed Sokka around the waist and ran to Appa. His buddy waited for him to get onto his saddle, and then charged away. Why wasn't his airbending working? Was that why Appa wasn't flying? And where were- The demon shadows, still in the stolen skins of airbenders, chased them on gliders. Appa ran faster, charged out of the temple, across the landing strip, and jumped off the side of the mountain. Aang became weightless as he hurdled to the ground, just trying to keep a hold of Appa. And then in a lurch, they were flying again and Aang had his bending back.

Aang trembled. The demon shadows had followed them into the sky. They never should've come here. He wasn't ready for this. And deep down, Aang knew he never would be.

"See," said Teo, pointing at the _Them_. "They look human on the outside. They steal people's faces and wear them as their own. That _Thing_ on Appa isn't Sokka. And they're using _It_ to track us."

But He- It? Looked like Sokka. Like, exactly the same. Except with no right hand, and no boomerang. Aang couldn't imagine Sokka ever abandoning one of his precious tools…

"Didn't he seem different once we got into the Temple?" Teo asked. "He yelled at you two, he started making accusations that we were being possessed." Teo looked down and played with his fingers, a sad smile touching his lips. "I think that one of those _Things_ had already burrowed into his mind. We explored, but as we went deeper he started acting strange. He started talking about his sister. How much he missed her. And when we got to the bottom of the temple, one of those things took her face. That was what finished him off. I can't say I blame him, if it had been focused on me and not Sokka, it would've showed me my mother's face which would have…" Teo stopped, and glanced at the demons chasing them. He frowned and shook his head. "I tried to kill the _Thing_, I thought it might break him out of his trance, but Sokka attacked me. I knew he was done for, and after I'd finished the monster off Sokka vowed vengeance on me for killing his sister. I ran, but I think… I think the Sokka we used to know died as soon as we went into that temple. I'm sorry Aang."

It didn't sound possible. But here they were being chased by evil shadows who now looked exactly like airbenders.

"Sokka," Aang said, shaking his friend. "Wake up!"

Sokka's eyes blinked opened. They looked duller than normal, flat and reflective. But Sokka in general looked in bad shape, his skin was sallow, he had a black eye, and his hand was… His right hand was missing. He'd wrapped the stump in furs. "Aang? That you buddy?"

"Sokka, Teo says you attacked him in the dungeon? He says you've been possessed. Crazy right?" Aang laughed nervously.

Sokka stared at the stars. "We're moving pretty fast aren't we Aang? Are we being chased?"

"Tell me he's wrong Sokka," Aang said, trying not to sound like he was pleading. "Tell me he's wrong and I'll believe you."

"Bring us down," Sokka said. "I can get us out of this."

"Don't listen to him," Teo barked. "That's not Sokka! He's trying to get us killed!"

Why wouldn't he deny it? If he'd just deny it Aang would believe him! Sokka just shrugged. "He might be right. It's not like I'd know if I were one of _Them_."

Appa flew down, and Sokka slid off the side of the saddle. "Everyone give me your cherry bombs. These _Things_ seem to like me, and they're vulnerable to conventional weaponry. Teo says he killed the Thing down there, and I… I remember… Everything is fuzzy, but I do seem to remember one of _Them_ getting speared." Sokka's breathing was heavy and wheezing, and his legs were wobbling like they were about to fall over. "You guys ride Appa away. Don't fly. They're attracted to bending."

One of the creatures howled from above. Spotting them.

"Guys," Sokka said, standing tall. "Make sure you find my sister. Her name is Katara and she's a fire-"

"No!" Haru said, jumping off Appa. He hauled Sokka back into the saddle. "Maybe they'll come to you maybe they won't. We have to be sure! We need a bender to act as bait, and it can't be Aang! This is my destiny. Right here. Right now."

Everyone stared at Haru. He'd been so mild, so polite, so unconfident. But right now, for once, he seemed so sure of himself.

Teo was the first to hand him his cherry bombs. "It's a good plan," he said weakly.

"I know," said Haru.

And as the non-living creatures screamed above them, Sokka handed his bombs over as well. "You've got balls man. Thanks Haru."

Haru nodded.

Aang was last. And one thought rang through his head as he handed death to a friend: _**Thank goodness it isn't me**_. Aang looked away. "I'll find you in the spirit world." Haru's rough hands snatched his honor from him.

"Avatar?" Haru asked, fear back in his voice for the first time. "Do you know what happens to us after we die?"

"I think that-" Appa galloped away, cutting off the rest of Aang's response. He began to shake. He was a coward. A coward. He'd tried so hard to overcome it, but here he was, letting people die for him. It was in the moment right now, he could still turn back, they could try and fight those horrible _Things _together. Haru didn't have to- Who was he kidding? He was to afraid to even turn around and watch. He couldn't even smile and give reassurance to the man who was dying for him. Maybe he was chasing after them, maybe every man was a coward, perhaps Sokka and Teo were just as- They were both facing the opposite direction, staring back at Haru.

Aang was a coward.

He heard the explosion. He saw the pigeon-gulls fly from the trees. But he didn't honor Haru's sacrifice properly. He didn't even see it.

Sokka rested a hand on his shoulder. "We've got to stop that _Thing_. We can't stop trying."

"Then we have to go to Senlin Village," said Teo. "And don't think I trust you now. I know you're not actually Sokka."

"And I don't think you're actually-"

"Stop," whispered Aang. "Please. Just stop. We're gonna go to Senlin Village and we're gonna act like a family. No more accusations from either of you."

The funny thing was that Aang didn't want to go to Senlin Village. He was through with the Phoenix. It was a demon for the next Avatar. He desperately wanted to go to the North Pole and just do some good, familiar waterbending. Learn something new, play with the locals, just have fun. But he'd finally found something that truly horrified him.

Maybe one of _Them_ had stolen Sokka's soul, maybe _They _had taken Teo's. Aang would go to Senlin Village because he was afraid that maybe those monsters _hadn't_ replaced his friends with soulless demons. He was terrified that the two of them were honest, brave, men who would discover the only truth that he was sure of.

Aang was the only fraud here.


End file.
